ESL Banking Writing

This page has various exercise related to
ESL banking writing to help you improve your writing skills while also revising
the ESL banking vocabulary you have learnt.

There are various activities for you to do
on this page:

A list of writing topics related to banking
that you can use to write a short paragraph or long essay.

A passage for you to read and then write a
summary of it.

Some data (a graph) that you should
describe.

Writing a role-play of a situation that might
occur at a bank.

Scroll down to find each part.

Exercise 1 – ESL Banking Writing Topics

Write a short paragraph or essay on the
following topics about banking and visiting a bank. Try to use any new
vocabulary you have learnt from the banking vocabulary page and write as much
as you can.

Discuss why it is important to open a bank
account.

Do you think it is safe to keep all your
money in a bank?

Describe what you think it is like to work
in a bank.

Exercise 2 – Write a Summary

Below you have a short written passage
about ‘How Banks Work’. Read and understand the passage before writing a
summary. The summary should be shorter than the original but still contain all
the main information. Remember to use new sentences and vocabulary so that it
is different from the original.

How Banks Work

How do banks
work is a question that many people wonder about. At the most basic level banks
serve two types of customers: those that want to save money and those that want
to borrow money. Of course it is possible for a customer to be included in both
categories.

The savers,
those saving money at the bank, deposit their money with the bank in an
account. The account will be housed and administered at their local branch.
They will be able to pay money into the account either electronically via
online banking or by visiting the branch. When they visit the branch they will
pay either cash or cheques into their account by giving them to the bank
teller. The saver will earn interest on the money deposited in their account.

The borrowers,
those borrowing money at the bank, will generally have to visit the bank and
see the bank manager. The bank manager is the person who is in-charge of the
branch and makes important decisions. The amount of money that you can borrow
will be linked to how much money you earn at your job and how much you can pay
back to the bank each month. The Bank will also charge interest on the money.

The bank is able
to use the money that the savers give to it for safe keeping to lend to the
borrowers, who repay the money as well as extra interest. This extra interest
is used to pay the savers’ interest on their accounts and for the bank to make
a profit.

Exercise 3 – Describe Data

In this ESL banking writing task describe the data in the two figures below
that relate to banks in the UK. Figure A shows the total number of branches
that the four biggest banks had open in 2014, while Figure B shows the number
of branches that each of those banks closed in 2013. Write two or three
paragraphs describing the information included in the two figures.

Exercise 4 – Writing Role-plays

In this part of the ESL banking writing page you
need to write a role-play for the two situations described below. Each role play
lists the people that will be involved and for who you will have to write lines as
well as the location and specific situation. There are example conversations on
the ESL banking conversation page that you can look at for ideas.

Role play 1

Participants: Customer, Bank manager

Location: Bank manager’s office

Situation: There is a problem with the
customer’s account and the bank manager has to try to help the customer.